The secret force
by Shadowspeed2020
Summary: When two GUN agents try to prove themeslves as worthy SPEED agents, they find themselves working with the best agents around. But can they prove they deserve to stay that way. Sonic human story inspired by works of Antares700
1. Chapter 1

Night time. The world was peaceful in the desert, the moon shining over the grains of sand. Everything was serene in a barren sort of way. Only three people were enjoying this, living on a floating island known as Babylon Garden. One of them had spiked back green hair, and had a green jacket. His clothes seemed to be all green, except for his red boots, which had a black line in the centre. His name was Jet. On a computer, was a girl with twin back length tails of purple hair, with a purple T-shirt and white trousers. Her name was Wave. One of them was lying on a couch, wearing a grey shirt and jacket. He had long, grey hair and looked extremely powerful. His name was Storm, as if to say how strong he was. All of them were at least fourteen, Wave, who was fourteen, the youngest, with Jet and Storm at least fifteen. All three were relaxing, Jet and Storm watching TV, while Wave worked at the computer. Everything was quiet, except for the TV in the background. Wave looked back at the boys, wondering how they could just sit there doing nothing when they could be on their air boards. She looked back at the computer screen, seeing a message appear on the screen. She clicked it, finding a video of two people, around the same age as they were, running through the desert.

One of them was a boy, wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans. He also wore boots similar to Jet's, only they were yellow or gold where Jet's were red. His hair looked to be a mixture of dark blue, brown and black. The other was a girl, with long, black hair, a purple T-shirt and knee long denim shorts. She also wore white trainers. Both of them looked like they were running away from something, which was confirmed when they moved off camera, with flying, human like robots behind them. Wave recognised the robots. They belonged to Dr Eggman, and they were after them for a reason. She turned to Jet, who was still watching TV, and shouted "If your TV show is over, there's someone out there with robots on their tail." Jet got to his feet, with Storm getting up off the couch. They raced out of the room, Jet being the fastest. They ran into an open room, with small doors that were already opening. Jet had already grabbed his air board, jumping on it and flying into the night. Wave and Storm did the same, flying after him in the direction of the robots.

"_How annoying are these things? We can't even lose them for one second!"_ the boy thought to himself. Not long ago, both he and the girl had escaped from Eggman's base, stealing something that looked important, but didn't know what it was. They were in the middle of nowhere, running away in what felt like a pointless effort to escape their pursuers. They were just visiting a nearby city when they heard about the base, breaking in to see what was being made there. _"What were we thinking when we broke in? Now it might cost us our lives,"_ he thought, looking back to his friend, seeing that she was slowing down. He couldn't blame her; they had been running through the desert sands for an hour, and he was surprised they had kept going for so long. They thought they would escape, but now every step they took made their feet sink into the sand, using up a lot of strength to pull it out and keep going. They took another step, their feet sinking enough to make them both collapse. They almost fell face down in the sand, but both supported themselves with their hands. They looked back, seeing the first line of robots landing behind them. The boy got up weakly, completely exhausted, and stood between his friend and the robots, as if to make a stand. The robots had raised their weapons to fire, loading them. A dust cloud was coming towards them, but no-one noticed it until it was almost upon them.

What emerged from the cloud surprised both the robots and the ones they were chasing. The cloud didn't even clear before the robots were blown away, lying broken in the sand. The boy and girl looked as the dust cleared, seeing three figures coming towards them, two boys and a girl. They didn't look like anyone who could create that kind of sandstorm, but then the boy noticed the air boards on their backs. They looked about the same age, around fourteen or fifteen. As Jet stepped forward, the girl stood behind her friend, looking at the people who had just saved them. As Jet stopped in front of him, the boy said "Thanks. I didn't expect anyone to be out in the desert at this time of night." Jet looked at him, saying "Neither did we, but who are you, and why were those robots after you?" The boy replied "The name's Skyfire," and the girl behind him said "Just call me Cynder." Everyone looked back over the desert, seeing more robots coming after them. Storm and Wave jumped on their boards, ready to fly away. Wave gestured to Skyfire, telling him to hop on. Jet did the same to Cynder, letting her jump on. As they flew away, the robots began to move faster, trying to catch them before they got back to Babylon Garden.

Flying away at top speed, the five of them looked at the wave of robots, much larger than the first. Storm looked to everyone "Guess you to must have really ticked off Eggman." Skyfire looks to him, simply saying sarcastically "You think he'd send so many to invite us to a party," and looks towards the robots that looked as if they were right on top of them. Skyfire looked to Jet, seeing that, even though he had the fastest board, they still wouldn't be able to outrun the robots. "If we can't run from them, then we're going to have to fight them," Skyfire said to himself, reaching down to his belt. He grabbed something, turning back to Wave "Think you can keep this thing balanced enough for me to hit those clunkers." Wave looked towards him, commenting "How are you going to hit them from here?" but as the words left her mouth, he had already turned to face the robots, as if he was going to jump off and take them on. She noticed a round disk with a ring around it, but saw him push a button and cause the ring to split into three curved points, forming a three curved-pointed star. She watched him throw it at the pursuers, and then watched as robots fell, some of them losing arms, legs, jets and even their heads. The star returned and Skyfire grabbed it without even coming close to the blades._ "And I thought Espio was a skilled ninja," _Jet thought to himself as they flew into Babylon Garden, landing in a small hanger.

All of them jumped off their boards, with Jet and Storm putting them where they stayed. Wave looked to Skyfire, seeing that he was wearing a belt with the disks she saw him use, nun-chucks and what looked like some kind of flail. She also noticed Cynder was carrying a staff. _"Whoever they are, they certainly aren't without defences,"_ she though, watching Skyfire reach into his pocket and pull out a small remote-like device. He also seemed to wear gloves that had two thirds of the fingers missing, showing a strange, sky-blue line on each finger. He noticed him look over the item that he was holding in a way that showed he was curious to know what it did. He handed it to her, turning to Jet and Storm as they came over "If Eggman was prepared to send a small army to get this back, then GUN need to get it. Think you could deliver this to them," he said, seeing Jet nod. Unable to hold in her questions, Wave asked suddenly "So who are you anyway, I mean, are you working with GUN?" Cynder looked her in the eye "Sort of. We were trying to get this in order to show GUN that we were ready to be SPEED agents. We've been working with GUN for three years, taking any assignment to prove ourselves. I just hope we didn't risk our necks for nothing." The five of them started leaving the room, Jet leading the way "Well I guess you're going to find out soon enough."


	2. Chapter 2

As they flew over a Hawaiian island, Cynder looked down from the window, seeing beautiful beaches and mountains spread before her. The sun was shining brightly on a beautiful day. She sat back down in her seat, watching Skyfire pilot the plane, the Airblazer, towards the airport. After they had contacted GUN from Babylon Garden, they were told to drop off the device and fly to a Hawaiian island, both of them guessing what that meant. At GUN, if you wanted to be on a particular team, Mr Rose would send you to the location of someone in that division. In this case, Skyfire and Cynder had been told to report to the same island that the SPEED agents were currently on vacation. Cynder played through everything she and Skyfire had done, thinking over the countless assignments they had undertaken since they joined. They deserved a little vacation time, she thought to herself as Skyfire guided the plane towards the runway. As the plane touched down, it jolted a little, and then brought its wheels down on the smooth tarmac. Cynder looked around. There were planes and airport buildings everywhere, but even these added to the beauty of the place. She went into the cargo hold, grabbing her bags. The door opened and she leapt down to the ground, glad to be standing on Hawaiian soil.

Skyfire jumped down, carrying his small amount of hand luggage. He might have been on vacation, but he always travelled light. He watched as the cargo hold doors closed behind him, and then ran after Cynder, who had been eager to begin her vacation as soon as possible. They waited as their passports were checked, then made their way to the exit, looking for someone who might tell them where to go. He looked to see a boy with blue, spiked hair and wearing almost completely blue, and another boy with silver hair and strange symbols on his hands. He knew enough about them to guess their names, Sonic and Silver. He walked over to them, letting Cynder do most of the talking. In fact, he stayed silent for almost the entire trip to where they were staying. Sonic had noticed this, also noticing he felt a little uneasy around him, the same feeling he got when he knew Shadow was ticked off with something. He also noticed that, despite the heat, Skyfire still wore gloves that only showed half his fingers, just enough for Sonic to notice the sky blue lines on them. He shrugged it off, thinking he was just this way because of Skyfire's awkward silence. They soon reached where they were staying, a private set of flats that were spacious and clean. When they stopped, Skyfire grabbed his bags and followed Silver to the room he'd be sharing with him and Espio, a ninja who had purple hair with a thin, yellow stripe and always had Kunai accessible.

They walked into the room just as Espio was throwing one at a worn dartboard he'd place on the door. It had left his hand just a split second before Skyfire and Silver had opened the door. Silver had dodged, and Skyfire had moved to the side with incredible speed, as if he'd seen the kunai coming before Silver had opened the door. The blade of the kunai was sticking into the wall, so Skyfire grabbed it and handed it back to Espio. As if nothing had happened, Silver was lying on the bed completely relaxed. As Espio shut the door, Skyfire started to unpack, bringing out his extra clothes, his bathroom supplies and another worn dartboard. Silver watched as he put it on the wall next to his bed, stepping back and reaching down to his belt. This was the first time Silver noticed what Skyfire kept on it, surprised to see he had one ninja star on each side, with nun-chucks and a flail next to it. Silver watched as he brought on of the stars off his belt, seeing him press the button to separate the ring into the three curved blades. He watched him bring it close to his face, and even Espio had stopped to watch. Unnerved, Skyfire took two fake throws, then on the third, three the star with incredible accuracy, making one of the tips hit the pin sized bull's-eye. Silver, who was a little annoyed that both Skyfire and Espio found hitting a pin sized target relaxing, said to himself "Wonder if I could switch rooms with Shadow," then got up and left the room, heading for the lounge.

The beach was packed with people, making it almost impossible to see the sand under all the beach towels. There were people swimming, sun-bathing or entering a surfing contest. Sonic, Tails, Shadow, Silver and Knuckles had entered, each of them feeling confident about winning. Amy had chosen to go sun-bathing, trying to talk Blaze and Cynder into joining her. Cynder had chosen to go swimming, while Blaze had brought a chair with her and was watching the surfing contest. Skyfire had decided to watch the surfing contest, mainly to see Sonic end up looking like a drowned rat on his attempt. He was on his way for a soda, still wearing his gloves, when, completely sudden, someone came towards him midway through a flying kick. He dodged as the attacker, a girl who looked a little dark out in the sun, landed in the sand next to him. He prepared to fight back, only to watch her run towards the largest guy he'd ever seen. She tried another flying kick, but only ended up being thrown away by the guy. She skidded a little in the sand. She slowly got to her feet, her face full of anger and her temper as hot as the boiling sun, as the guy simply laughed in her face. He had attracted a crowd who were all sniggering a little as he made jokes about her. He said in a deep voice that suggested strength "Do you really think that little fly swat would have hurt me." He stopped laughing when he heard someone running towards him. He looked to see a scrawny looking boy running towards him. He underestimated him, for in a few seconds, Skyfire had executed a flying kick, ramming his foot into the guy's chest. He somersaulted back as the guy fell, causing some of his friends to run away. He tried to get up, only to be greeted by Skyfire standing ready for him to attack him. The guy stood up, saying "You'll regret this. My dad's a police officer." Skyfire simply straightened, saying "Try telling him that you were causing trouble and a SPEED agent had to step in. I'm pretty sure he'll like that," and started walking away. The guy started to slink away, knowing he was beaten. The girl watched Skyfire walk away, not a shred of pride in beating someone twice his size showing. He looked the opposite; looking as if the fight had been a waste of time, which it had been.

She started to follow him, wanting to thank him for his help. She didn't even have to say anything, for the moment she stepped behind him, he stopped and simply said "It was nothing, that guy was just a coward like most other bullies," and continued walking. She kept following him, curious to know if he'd teach her some of the moves he knew, for she was a GUN junior agent, meaning she only went on covert missions that showed no shred of danger. Her name was April, and she looked a little creepy to some of the younger people at school. Her parents were here on assignment, and she was there to help complete the picture of a family on vacation. Her parents were away until eight thirty, so she always went to the beach when the sun was out, usually expecting trouble from the guy who had slinked into the crowd. She had been a little ticked off at something this morning, and when the guy started pushing her around, her temper boiled so much she felt she would turn red. Despite all this, she had calmed down a lot after Skyfire had beaten the guy, making it look like it was all too easy. She walked up beside him, ready to talk to him, but had to wait when she saw him run towards what looked like a fight. She ran after him, wanting to help if things got really ugly.

Skyfire had run to see Blaze holding a large, muscular surfer by the throat. He heard her say something to him, but was too far away to hear it. He watched her throw the surfer into the sand, feeling the impact as he hit the ground. He looked back to see Blaze leap over two surfers who were with the guy she had already thrown, as she cracked their heads together, making them fall on top of each other. There was a forth guy, but he had disappeared into the crown the moment Blaze glared angrily towards him. He heard the first guy shout back at her "You can't do this. My dad works at GUN. There'll be consequences." He also heard Blaze laugh in a way that was chilling and hollow "GUN? Just tell your dad you assaulted a SPEED agent," and stepped towards him, grabbing his neck and pulling his face close "See how he reacts," and raised her fist to strike. Skyfire was about to stop her, but Silver and Tails had broken through the ring of spectators. Blaze had heard Silver shout her name, but had simply dropped the man she was holding and had ran off, her face in her hands. Silver went after her, while Tails, who had noticed Skyfire in the crowd, went over to him, asking what happened. Skyfire explained all he saw, and then went off again. He walked towards the ocean, hoping to find Cynder. Instead, all he saw were three strong men on jet-skis who were ruining everyone's day. He also saw three girls cheering them on. He also watched them make fun of anyone who walked past them. He saw one of the boys burst a child's inflatable, making the child burst into tears and the mother shout wowards them. That did it, he was running towards the water, diving in and swimming towards the boys. He ducked underwater, hoping to surprise them. As he swam faster, Shadow, who was in the middle of surfing, saw Skyfire swim towards the boys. He hadn't seen why, but the moment he hit the beach, he used his air shoes to propel him through the water like a torpedo. Meanwhile, Skyfire was moving much faster. He appeared to have something glowing on the back of his hands, burning through his gloves. He had soon reached where the boys were causing trouble, far away from where anyone could see them. The girls who were cheering them on where standing on some nearby rocks, shouting as the jet-skis leapt across the waves. They wouldn't be cheering for long, Skyfire thought to himself as he darted upwards through the water.


	3. Chapter 3

The boys had just ridden a giant wave, emerging through it laughing as they powered across the sea. Watching from nearby rocks, the three girls from the beach watched, cheering as the boys showed off. None of them noticed Skyfire, who was close enough to pull of what he wanted to do. He grabbed one of his flails, waiting for one of the jet-skis to come close. As one of them stormed past, he pressed a button on the flail's handle, causing it to rocket through the water. It hit the bottom of the jet-ski, knocking the rider backwards into the water. The other two laughed, slowing down to point and laugh. Skyfire came to the surface, keeping out of the boy's sight. He muttered something, then raised his arm. At the same time, a rock from the sea bed flew up, knocking another boy from a jet-ski. He grabbed onto his friend, pulling him off the remaining jet-ski. Skyfire then muttered something else, raising his arm again. As he did so, a large wave formed behind the boys, sweeping them up and tossing them in the air like beach balls. The girls laughed, until the wave smashed down on the rocks, soaking them completely. _"Huh, guess it's not so good to be the ones who will be laughed at,"_ Skyfire thought as he started swimming away. As he made his way back, Shadow stopped beside him, asking "A little far from the beach aren't you?" "I had a little....matter to take care of," Skyfire replied, starting to swim faster.

Cynder watched as Sonic made his attempt at the surfing contest, laughing as Sonic went flying of his board. _"Man, I thought I wasn't the best on a board," _she thought as she dived back underwater, trying to find some shells to take home with her. She saw a large one a few centimetres in front of her. She was about to grab it when she bumped into something, even though there was nothing in front of her. She felt something fall on her, barely able to get her head above water to see who it was, and to breathe. She looked behind her to see Espio appear before her eyes, having been standing there invisible when she knocked into him. He had been wearing swimming shorts and a purple T-shirt, which was now soaked through. He also had binoculars hanging from his neck. Cynder looked sceptically at him, saying sarcastically "Sorry to disturb you from fish watching, but why where you standing right out here?" Espio glared at her but shrugged off the comment. "If you must know, I was finding out a little about that boat in the port. No boats are allowed to dock there." Cynder looked to the port, also noticing the boat. "If you want to know why it's there, then here's an idea. Why not use your invisibility to sneak on board?" she asked, taking a guess at what he'd say to her.

"I was going to, but it's not like I'm going to go there by myself, and the only person who would even think of going would be Sonic, and he isn't the kinda guy for covert surveillance. Besides, no-one else can become invisible," he said, noticing a small smile appearing on Cynder's face. "What if I told you I could turn invisible, then would you go," she asked, seeing Espio nod his head a little in agreement. "I guess it's settled then. When do we do it?"

After a day of absolutely nothing, the day after was said to be wet and miserable later on. Despite this, Amy had dragged everyone but Shadow and Espio out shopping. They had all opted for different stores, with Silver and Blaze going to one on their own, Cynder, Amy and Sonic went to a different one, while Tails, Knuckles and Skyfire went to a video game store. There was a PS3 at the hotel, and Sonic and Knuckles had been the only ones who had played it. As they looked around, there was a console set up to play new releases on. The games to choose from were Spyro Dawn of the Dragon and Star Wars The Force Unleashed. Knuckles went over, choosing to play the Star Wars game. Tails and Skyfire watched as Knuckles seemed to blitz the enemies, slicing them with the lightsaber. He had set it to high difficulty, and he had lost quite a lot of health. As he ran over to a squadron of stormtroopers, an enemy he'd forgotten to kill threw a grenade that blew up right beside him, taking the rest of his health. He growled a little, stepping back as Skyfire stepped up to the controller. "I bet he doesn't play video games, especially this type. I'd give him ten seconds once he gets to those enemies," he whispered to Tails as Skyfire leapt down on the enemies. "Do you really think blocking is going to help you kill them," he chuckled as Skyfire hit the block button. As the soldiers fired at him, Skyfire blocked, then hit the jump button, pressing the force push button as he descended, blowing back some of the enemies. Knuckles and Tails watched as he performed combos Knuckles hadn't even thought of trying, like using force push after pressing the attack button twice. He then went on to grab one of the stormtroopers, throwing him at a small squad of them. This cleared the enemies, and Skyfire left the controller to let someone else have a turn. As he rejoined the two of them, Knuckles asked "How did you pull of those moves?" "If you took the time to play the demo, then you might learn something," Skyfire answered as they went back to looking through the games.

After at least an hour and a half of going around shops, all of them met for lunch, each of them having their own different bags of stuff. Amy looked as though she had bought half a store, having more than everyone else put together. Tails had pulled out something from the mountain of bags, asking "How much was this?" Amy shrugged, saying "$40." Skyfire then asked "And it will see the light of day how many times?" "Probably twice," Amy said, Skyfire and Tails putting their heads in their hands. "The sad part is she still doesn't see what's wrong," Tails muttered to Knuckles, who just so happened to be wearing a new shirt. "What is wrong with that?" Knuckles asked, watching as Skyfire and Tails' heads dropped onto the table with a thud. Knuckles shrugged, getting a slap on the back of the head from Skyfire. "What the heck was that for?" he said angrily as Skyfire lifted his head off the table. "For buying something you're probably never going to wear until it you find it's too small for you," he answered back, taking another sip of his cola. Afterwards, Amy announced that she and Blaze were staying to buy Blaze some new clothes, while Silver said he had something he needed to do in town, and Skyfire said he would join him. As they left, Tails shouted to them "Don't forget the buses stop running at four," and the four of them left for home, each of them carrying some of Amy's new wardrobe.

As they walked through the streets, Silver and Skyfire barely said a word, letting the time pass in silence. They looked in shop windows, stopping to view the souvenirs for tourists. As they looked through another window, Silver asked "Uh, Skyfire. Have you ever.....really liked someone who's been your friend for a really long time, and have...feelings for them?" Skyfire hesitated, then answered "Maybe. Why'd you ask?" Silver tried to gather the courage to say why, saying nervously "Well, let's say I really like someone I've known for a long time, and we've been inseparable for a very long time..." "If it's Blaze then just say so. You don't have to hide it from me," Skyfire interrupted, making Silver start to stutter. "But how...I mean...how did you......" he said, seeing Skyfire look him in the eye, saying "It probably wouldn't be Amy, and you barely even know Cynder." Silver sighed, then said "Well, any idea on how I could tell her? Every time I try to say it, the words just seem lost in my mind; as if I can't say them no matter how hard I try." Skyfire was about to answer, but then looked across the street, saying "Maybe you should tell her now, seeing as you'll have the chance," and pointed to a street corner Blaze was just passing. It had started raining and the two of them hadn't noticed. Silver left, following after Blaze, while Skyfire stood there a while, lost in thought after what Silver had asked him.


	4. Chapter 4

He was about to head back to the others, knowing the buses must have stopped ages ago. He started to walk off, shivering as he walked through the pouring rain after Silver. _"Great, even if I can keep enough energy through this storm, Shadow's probably going to kill me the moment I get home,"_ he thought to himself, the rain starting to drip down his hair. He passed an alleyway, pausing for a second when he heard someone shout _"Get lost knucklehead, otherwise you'll regret it!" _He looked around, not seeing Silver anywhere. He ran down the alley, knowing he'd probably regret it. As he stopped, he saw the guy from the beach he'd kicked in the chest, and April. He slowly reached for his nun-chucks; stopping the moment the guy turned round and produced a knife. Skyfire looked him in the eye, seeing the desire for revenge. He was about to strike out, until the guy said "You can either leave here now, or you can just let me kill you right now." Skyfire looked down at his hands, seeing the stripes on his fingers beginning to glow red. The guy also looked down at them, giving Skyfire the perfect moment to strike.

He lashed out with a powerful kick, only just missing the attacker's neck. The attacker had the knife ready, preparing to stab Skyfire in the back, until an invisible force swept past his hand. He looked up, watching Skyfire summersault away. He threw the knife, a clear shot at Skyfire's chest. As Skyfire landed, something on his back had started to glow slightly. As the glow disappeared, a pair of dragon wings had now formed. He brought them in front of him, creating a shield. The knife bounced off, almost leaving a tear. The attacker stood there as the knife landed beside him. He picked it up, ready to throw it towards April, when a blast of flames struck the knife, making him drop it. He looked at Skyfire, who he guessed had launched the fire. He grabbed the knife, running out of the alley and into the street. April stood there, unable to believe what had just happened, as Skyfire fell on his knees, bringing his arms forward to stop him landing flat on his stomach. April ran over to him, helping him to his feet. She was about to ask a torrent of questions about how he did all that, when outside the alley, Amy walked past, looking towards them. Her face was full of surprise as she noticed Skyfire's wings. She brought out her cell phone, calling the others to tell them what had happened.

Later that evening, Shadow wasn't in the best of moods, and neither was anyone else. After Amy had called, Knuckles and Espio had gone to help Skyfire, while Silver came home carrying Blaze, who looked close to death. The moment Skyfire had stepped inside; he'd collapsed with exhaustion if Knuckles hadn't caught him. He and Blaze were lying in the girl's room, which had been made into a makeshift infirmary, and were being checked by Amy and Tails while the others "discussed" what had happened. "Did you have to smash that guy into the wall? Couldn't you have done something less.....?" Shadow shouted. "If you say violent, I'll smash you!" Silver had shouted back as Shadow said "Well, couldn't you have done something else?" "I can't believe it, Mr Kill on Sight is telling me not to be violent. Let's put a knife at your best friend's throat and see how peaceful you are, if you have one!" Silver shouted as he and Shadow lunged at each other. "You try it and I will......" Shadow shouted as Knuckles and Espio stepped in to hold them back. "You see," Silver shouted back, and Sonic stepped in, saying "Settle down! Everyone's fine and nothing's wrong! Why are we fighting?"

Shadow sighed. "You're right. Sorry Silver," he said, as Silver shrugged it off and went off to see Blaze. Shadow then turned to Cynder, who had been standing next to him. "Anything you'd like to tell us?" he said, watching as Cynder seemed to hesitate, saying nervously "Well, Skyfire and I have powers we kept hidden from you guys. I have dragon wings, invisibility and can shoot waves of strange energy," she paused as her wings revealed themselves, folding off of her back. They were quite large, and the skin flaps were pink while the bone was black. She continued "And Skyfire had dragon wings and was born a pyrokinetic, a little like Blaze. They're both affected in similar ways, you know, with water and heavy rain. That fire blast, though nothing spectacular, must have drained him considering how wet it was." Shadow thought for a second, then said "Then why didn't you tell us about your abilities? In case you haven't noticed, we all have some kind of weird power." Cynder hesitated, then said quietly "Because the last person we revealed our powers to, almost got killed because of us." His eyes widened as he listened, looking at April, who was talking with Knuckles about what happened. Something caught his attention, making him look down at her hands. He noticed a strange marking, blue in colour. Sky blue. He was about to ask her about it, but shrugged it off, thinking it was just a coincidence.

Later that night, Skyfire and Blaze were still in the makeshift infirmary, still recovering from the events that took place. Though it was late, they couldn't sleep, both of them having a lot on their minds. Skyfire lay still, looking straight up at the ceiling, his wings hanging over the side of the bed. He was thinking about his past, everything that had ever happened to him. His home, his parents, when he had discovered his powers, his childhood, had all gone up in flames. His home had been destroyed, a smouldering ruin when he had last seen it. Tears started to form in his eyes as he thought about what had happened after that. Blaze looked over at him, asking "Are you okay Skyfire?" Skyfire looked over at her, saying "Just......just thinking about my past." "Going by the looks of things, it doesn't seem like something good worth remembering. Why are you thinking about it now?" she asked, showing concern. Skyfire paused, thinking about what to say. "Did you hear about a village that was wiped out eight years ago?" he asked, seeing Blaze nod her head. "That was my home, a beautiful place completely destroyed in a matter of minutes. And I was at the centre of it, sitting there at the heart of it all while people and homes were burned to nothing. I saw the very thing that destroyed it all, something that fills me with fear to this day," he said, noticing Blaze's shocked expression.

He was about to continue, when he heard the door being opened. He looked towards it, seeing it open but no-one was there. He sighed, guessing it was Espio. "No need to hide unless you're hiding something," he said as Espio made himself visible. He watched as Espio started to look around the room, watching as he looked underneath the bed. "Lose something?" Blaze called over, noticing something glint in the light from the hall. "One of my kunai that Sonic took and hid for a joke. He'd better hope I don't find it," he said, glancing at her. He followed her gaze, seeing the glint as well. He walked over, picking up the lost kunai. As he left the room, he started muttering _"First the binoculars, then my kunai. Why is it when my things either break or go missing, Sonic has something to do with it," _leaving Blaze and Skyfire alone. Skyfire started staring at the ceiling again, already starting to fall asleep. Blaze noticed how still he lay, barely moving a muscle, then started falling asleep herself.


	5. Chapter 5

The view from the mountainside was beautiful. As she looked down the mountain, Cynder could see the city below her, looking through binoculars towards the harbour. The entire team had come here to try and lay low from the night before, Espio being the one to suggest the camping trip. The reason Espio suggested it was to keep a close watch on the mysterious boat. Yesterday, he and Cynder were monitoring the boat, when they saw someone, a boy that looked a lot like Sonic with metallic blue hair, come off the boat. The strangest thing was that, despite the heat, the boy seemed to be wearing dark blue jeans and a long sleeved blue shirt with a yellow ring on his front and back. They were still watching when Sonic, who had ran in and accidently made them both drop their binoculars. After that, they had chased Sonic all over the place, both of them invisible and weapons drawn. After they'd chased Sonic around the entire building, they'd managed to find a new pair of binoculars and went back to monitoring the boat, until Amy had called. Now, she was enjoying the bright, clear sky and brilliant sun that shone. She looked back over her shoulder, watching Sonic, Tails and Knuckles lying around, Amy sitting in the shade of her tent, and Shadow and Silver playing a game of chess.

As she looked a little further up the mountain, she could see a flame flicker, but ignored it. She knew that Skyfire and Blaze had to regain their strength after last night. She looked down at Espio, who was sitting on a small rock, watching the boat through his own binoculars. Despite arguments from the agents she was with, April had come along since she also had to keep a low profile. She was lying in the shade of her tent, listening to music. As she focused on the boat, Cynder couldn't help but notice there were piles of crates next to the boat. She also noticed that there were more security guards than yesterday. Something caught her eye, making her look to one of the nearby buildings. She noticed two people, both of them seeming to be spying on the boat. Espio had seen them too, and was also watching them running from armed guards, and could only just hear the alarm.

As they lay on a small ledge, Skyfire and Blaze looked up at the sky. They were both feeling much better and a lot stronger in the bright, afternoon sunshine. There were some tourists climbing the mountainside nearby, and they seemed to pause and glance at the two of them and continued climbing. Blaze looked down at the harbour, seeing the sun glint in the shimmering blue waves. She then looked to the trees that were just a little way down; noticing how they're leaves seemed to shine in the light. She then looked down towards Silver, a smile starting to appear on her face. "You really like Silver, don't you?" a voice said from behind. She looked back to see Amy standing behind her. She tried to ignore her, looking back down at the view.

Amy simply shrugged, then asked "What do you think Skyfire?" She looked toward him, seeing that, despite how bright the day was, he still seemed to be a little dark in his appearance. She looked at his knee length denim shorts, then at his wristbands and, despite the heat, his usual pair of gloves. He also had a blue shirt that had what looked like three large claw marks near his chest. "Do you always have to where that?" she asked. "If you are even dreaming of dragging me out shopping again, forget it. Besides, call this my "trademark" summer look," he replied, hoping she would head back to the others. "Why don't you at least try to lighten up? Even in this sun you look a little dark," she said, making her way back down to the others. As she disappeared from view, he sighed, saying _"Maybe because I'm more of a "night" person,"_ he said to himself, his eyes closing. He was about to fall asleep, but something hit him in the head. He looked to see a pebble, most likely from the tourist's ascent. He threw it back up the mountain, lying back down to try and fall asleep. As he lay down, he noticed more rocks coming down towards him. Each of them hit him on the head, making him close his eyes. He rubbed where the rocks had hit, knowing it would become a bruise.

"Are you two going to be at that game _all_ day," April asked as Shadow and Silver remained locked in their game. She had been listening to her MP3 player, but the battery had run out, so she had decided to watch Shadow and Silver play chess. She was already bored, fiddling about with her hair. Shadow looked up, saying "You don't have to watch, you know," and made his move. "Well what else is there to do?" she asked. "Here's an idea, try lying out in the sun or looking around the mountain," he answered, barely looking up from the game. She sighed, making her way outside. The heat seemed to hit her immediately. She looked at Sonic and Knuckles, who were just lying in the shade, then looked at Tails, who was tinkering with something. Amy had gone into her tent, and Cynder and Espio were still looking down at the harbour. She noticed sweat on everyone, then looked up at Blaze, who was sitting near the edge of the small ledge she and Skyfire had been all afternoon. _"At least someone's enjoying the heat,"_ she thought to herself, lying outside her tent. "Why is it so boring?" she asked herself.

That night, Skyfire couldn't sleep. He hadn't bothered with a tent, so he slept on a rock near Sonic's tent, using his wings to keep warm. There were just two things wrong with this plan. One, the rock was a little uncomfortable to lie on, and two, he found it hard to keep warm as his power of fire drew strength from the sun, and at night his powers were weakened, especially during a full moon. He got up, folding his wings around him. _"How does it get so cold around here at night?"_ he wondered, shivering a little. He looked down at his hands, still wearing his gloves. Even so, he could see the sky-blue lines that ran across the back of his fingers. He took of one of his gloves, looking at the strange symbol on the back of his hand, which looked like the sun and moon halfway through an eclipse, with a star in the centre. He was starting to think about what the symbol meant, when he heard someone behind him say "So, you couldn't sleep either?" He looked round, seeing April standing behind him. She was still wearing the same thing as earlier, dark coloured shirt and dark coloured denim shorts. Skyfire looked back out over the view, seeing the city below full of lights. His eyes started to water slightly as he remembered his own home, how it had once been such a beautiful place, and now few people remembered it existed.

April sat down beside him, looking out over the city. She noticed how his eyes had started to water, guessing something was wrong. "Is there anything bothering you?" she asked gently. "Nothing, just.....memories of home, how it used to be such a beautiful place," he replied. Guessing what he meant, April hesitated to ask about Skyfire's parents, even though by the tone of his voice she knew she would be better off not asking. "I know how it feels to lose your family. My parents were killed in crossfire between GUN agents and Eggman's robots. I was six years old, and that was when I joined GUN. To try and make up for my parents' deaths." A tear came to her eye. She was starting to shiver. Skyfire opened his wing, wrapping it round her to help keep her warm. They sat there for a little while. They heard something, the sound of something, or someone, falling over. They got up to investigate, finding Silver, Blaze and Espio talking about something. Silver was just wearing shorts, Blaze was in her pyjamas and Espio was fully dressed, equipped with his weapons and binoculars. As Skyfire made his way over to them, he didn't notice a small rock in front of him, tripping over it and falling on something. Espio, Silver and Blaze looked towards him, watching as Cynder started to reappear, both her and Skyfire lying in a heap. "Do I even want to know why you're out here Cynder?" Skyfire said as he got back to his feet. "Just helping Espio with something?" she answered as Skyfire helped her up.

Cynder and Silver knelt beside Espio, looking down to the harbour. "CO2?" Silver asked, looking down to where Espio had been surveying. "Methane," he answered, the three of them not noticing how the confused faces of the others had turned to anger. "Hate to be them right now," Cynder added. "What are you three talking about?!" Blaze, Skyfire and April shouted, making the three of them jump. "Can't tell you," Cynder said quickly. "It's this code we have for spying," Silver added. Blaze's eyes glowed a dangerous red; Skyfire seemed to snarl a little, and April's eyes seemed to darken. "Firstly, that's incredibly childish," Blaze said angrily, then added "Secondly......." and then she and Skyfire's hands caught fire. The three of them jumped again, Espio quickly saying "The code doesn't actually make any sense. Basically, I've used a gas to knock out the guards in the area." He closed his eyes, waiting for a possible world of pain. Instead, the fires extinguished, and April seemed to "lighten up". Blaze smiled, and Silver, Cynder and Espio released their breathes. "So, what are we going to do now?" she asked. "Now we sneak," Espio said gleefully, and the three of them made their way down the mountain.


	6. Chapter 6

The six of them crept down the mountain, hoping Espio was right about the gas knocking out _all_ the guards. Skyfire and Cynder were flying overhead, checking if the coast was clear, while the others made their way to a hole in the mountain. As Skyfire and Cynder flew in, Silver ripped the lid from one of the crates. Espio looked inside, his eyes starting to widen. "It's full of....arms," he said surprised. "Firearms?" Blaze asked, making her way over to see for herself. "No, I mean actual arms," Espio added, making everyone look for themselves. He was right; the crate was full of arms for Eggman's robots. They looked in some of the other crates, finding legs, torsos, heads, missiles and Vulcan cannon rounds. Silver looked up from one of the crates, a smile appearing on his face. "This must be where Egghead makes his robots. GUN will be glad to hear about......" he said, interrupted by someone hitting him in the back of the head. April looked up, only to fall backwards, knocked out cold. Skyfire looked around, seeing that Blaze, Silver and April knocked out, and no sign of Espio or Cynder. Something brushed against his wing, making him turn round as someone brought their fist down, aiming for his head. He dodged, somersaulting back and ready to fight. _"Thanks for just leaving me here guys," _he said quietly, noticing two robots move in behind him. He stood still, waiting for the moment to strike. The first attacker had already gone, taking Blaze and Silver with them. Another robot was carrying April away. He closed his eyes, listening as the robots prepared to fire.

One of the robots fired, its bullets missing Skyfire as he dived backwards, grabbing the robot's weapon arm. The other robot prepared to fire, but was blasted met by Vulcan cannon shots from the first. Skyfire was about to release the robot, but then heard both robots load a missile. They both fired the missiles on a collision course with each other. Skyfire leapt away just as the missiles exploded, the explosion knocking him out cold. From their hiding place, Espio and Cynder could see a different robot arrive and drag Skyfire away. Cynder charged her energy blasts, ready to attack, but Espio held her back. _"Take on that robot and you could have ten of them to deal with. It'd be wisest to keep ourselves hidden at the moment," _he whispered. Cynder thought for a second, nodding in agreement. As the two of them walked away, Cynder hoped that Skyfire wouldn't be badly hurt, for Eggman's sake. _"If Eggman hurts anyone badly in front of Skyfire, then he'd better hope he loses his prisoners,"_ she thought as she followed Espio through a hallway.

As he started to regain consciousness, Skyfire began to realise what had happened. He had been knocked out by the missile blasts, and was now in a strange room, his hands cuffed behind his back. His wings had disappeared, something that had happened while he was unconscious. He looked around, seeing a robot in front of him, and April, still out cold, with her hands cuffed behind her back. The robot was contacting Eggman, and Skyfire was tempted to fire blast it to scrap metal, but he knew he needed his power for when he actually escaped. Besides, it was still night, so his pyrokinetic powers were close to useless. The robot turned, stepping towards Skyfire. "So, you're the one who's been causing the doctor all this trouble," came a voice, part human, part robotic. A figure entered the room, wearing a cloak. All that could be seen were his hands, which looked a lot like metallic claws. He walked to the centre of the room, looking from Skyfire to the unconscious April. "But this one doesn't really seem to ring any bells. Maybe she'll tell us who she is after a little....painful persuasion," the figure said coldly. "Just try it and see what happens!" Skyfire growled, the figure looking straight back at him. "Alright then, I guess we'll just have to make you watch," the figure said, a trace of overconfidence in his voice. _"Dang it, maybe I should have just kept my big mouth shut,"_ Skyfire thought to himself as the robot dragged him out of the room.

As the robot dragged him to where he would watch April's "interrogation", Skyfire started to feel unusually cold. One of his friends could die here, and it would be his fault. Worse, he was being made to watch, which was the worst thing that could possibly happen. Already he could feel the anger building up inside him. He looked down to his hands, seeing the lines on his fingers starting to turn orange. If they turned red, then there would be a disaster. The robot threw him into a room with a window, looking into a room with what looked like a table. He could see April sitting there, her expression giving nothing away. The cloaked figure entered the room, carrying what looked like a stun gun. He placed it on the table, pointing it right at April. "Ok kid, who are you, and why did you trespass in this base?" he asked, getting a cold look from April. "Not talking eh?" he said, pulling the stun gun trigger. What happened was a large electric shock jolted through April, making her yell in pain. When it stopped, the figure said "Tell me what I need to know, and I might let you live." "Like that'll ever happen," she said, with what looked like a smile appearing on her face. "I tried to play fair, but I guess you'll just have to suffer......in front of your friend," the figure said, pointing to the window before pulling the trigger. As April yelled in pain, it was too much for Skyfire, who closed his eyes as he looked away. As the yell echoed into the room, his symbols started to burn red, and as he opened his eyes, they had turned a deep, blood red colour.

As the figure listened to April's yell, he looked through the window, seeing that something was about to blast the wall down. As he blinked, the wall exploded, a figure stepping into the room. The dust cleared, just as April looked up. She expected to see Skyfire, but was surprised by what had happened to him. His eyes had turned blood red. He had been wearing shorts, and she could see strange blood red markings on his arms, legs and face, all of them looking like cuts and scars. His skin had turned pale, and his clothes had turned grey and torn. She looked behind him, seeing very little left of the robot guard. The cloaked figure stepped back, saying "Wh.....who are you." "I am Nightfire, and you're going to regret ever awakening me," he replied, a dark black mist starting to surround his hands. The figure stepped back, making for the door, but as he reached out, a blast of black flames almost burned his hand. "Don't you dare turn your back on me," Nightfire said darkly. All the while, an ominous rumble became louder, an explosion ripping the door from its hinges. The figure ran out the door, activating hidden jets. As he flew through the base, an explosion blasted through the floor of the "interrogation" room. As the floor started to give way, Nightfire started carrying a barely conscious April out of the base. He was starting to change back to normal, the cuts and scars starting to disappear. As they returned to the camp, they could see everyone frantically trying to pack, as the explosions had caused the volcano to erupt. Silver, Blaze, Espio and Cynder had returned, already frantically packing their stuff away. Skyfire looked around, knowing he couldn't pack his and April's stuff in time. He grabbed his backpack, then, after lying April down, started packing as much of her stuff away as he could. He was about to pack away her tent when he noticed everyone had already started running down the mountain. He grabbed April's backpack, throwing it on his back, and then started carrying April after the others.

The next day was flooded by news reports about the eruption. It was also the last day of the SPEED agents' vacation. While everyone else was busy, Shadow and Skyfire reported to Mr Rose, briefing him about the eruption, Eggman's supply base, the Sonic copy Silver and Blaze had encountered, and the guy Skyfire and April had met. After all this was done, Shadow looked to Skyfire, who was still a little pale from last night. "So, what happened last night? I know you weren't the one who blew the base apart, but, what was with the transformation?" Shadow asked. "I don't want to talk about it Shadow," Skyfire answered, making for the door. As he left, he noticed April was looking a little unhappy. As smile secretly creeping across his face, Skyfire went over to her. "Anything wrong?" he asked, trying to keep his smile from showing. "Just sad this is the last day I get to spend with you guys," she answered, noticing the smile on his face. "Guess you're glad to get rid of me," she said, starting to get a little annoyed. "Why would I be glad to get rid of you when I recommended you became a SPEED agent?" he asked, laughing a little as her expression changed from sad to surprise. "Are you serious?!" she asked, unable to keep excitement out of her voice. "First class seat in the Airblazer," Skyfire said, almost falling as she threw her arms around him. "Thank you Skyfire!" she said, dashing off to get her stuff.


End file.
